Washington DC [US], March 12 : The US House of Representatives approved two bills related to China, both of which prevent the Department of Homeland Security from buying batteries produced by Chinese companies and establish a working group within the department to track and address threats from China, as reported by Voice of America (VOA).
On Monday, March 10, the House of Representatives passed the Decoupling from Foreign Adversarial Battery Dependence Act, HR1166, by voice vote. The bill was voted on under a suspension of House rules, a procedure often used by Congress to expedite the passage of non-controversial bills with bipartisan support, VOA reported.
The bill, introduced by Republican Representative Carlos Gimenez, seeks to prevent the Department of Homeland Security from purchasing batteries from six companies linked to China.
The Chinese battery manufacturers listed in the bill are Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd., BYD Co., Ltd., Envision Energy Co., Ltd., EVE Energy Co, Ltd, Haichen Energy Storage Technology Co, Ltd, and Guoxuan High-tech Power Energy Co, Ltd.
Republican Congressman Gimenez of Florida stated, "As communist China seeks to gain influence in key global industries, the United States must be at the forefront of confronting and decoupling from the CCP. As we become increasingly dependent on battery technology, we need to ensure that those batteries come from non-hostile countries."
"This bill will confront our global adversaries and grow our industrial manufacturing base here in America. We cannot give the Chinese Communist Party any opportunity to undermine our homeland security," stated Democratic Representative Chris Craia of California, VOA cited.
VOA further reported that China's leading role in electric vehicle development has emerged as a new point of geopolitical friction with the United States. China manufactures roughly 80 per cent of the world's batteries and about 75 per cent of lithium-ion batteries, creating significant dependence for global automakers on Chinese suppliers. Despite the high costs, US Congress continues to push for policies aimed at reducing long-term reliance on China for electric vehicle batteries.
The bills are now pending Senate consideration.
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